Amelioration
by Dingo
Summary: Tyzonn attempts to get used to Earth customs. A certain amount of confusion develops when he talks to Will and Ronny about Mack.
1. Acclimation

Title: Acclimation

First in the Amelioration series

Author: Dingo

Disclaimer: Power Rangers Operation Overdrive is not mine. If it was, there'd be things like this happening a lot more on the actual show. This takes place a little after Just Like Me.

Summary: Tyzonn talks to Will and attempts to make sense of what he says. One sided-Tyzonn/Mack.

**amelioration**  
_noun _the act of relieving ills and changing for the better

**acclimation**

_noun_ the process of becoming adjusted to a new environment or situation

* * *

After spending the entire day following (and copying) Will, Tyzonn had a question. Actually he had two questions, but only one was important. 

"Why am I doing this to strange people on the street?"

Will glanced back from his view of three young women, all of whom were currently whispering and giggling interspersed with coy glances at them. Not at them, at Will, Tyzonn admitted to himself, watching almost in curiosity as the girls pouted at the interruption in Will's attention.

"Because you don't know anyone, meaning that to you everyone's a strange person?" Will answered rhetorically.

"But I do know people," Tyzonn frowned. "I know Ronny and Rose, and Spencer and Mr Hartford."

"But none of those people are women."

Tyzonn frowned again. "I might be mistaken – I often seem to be on this planet – but aren't Rose and Ronny girls?"

Will fully turned around, ignorant of the frowns from the fawning women below. "Yeah, man, but there's a difference between **women **and **girls**."

He stressed the words like Tyzonn should have known what he was talking about.

Instead he just got a perfectly blank-faced Mercurian.

Will sighed. "Okay. Women are…" He gestured vaguely behind him. "…they're pretty, and dress nice, and smell really good."

"I thought Earthlings had only passable smelling ability?" Tyzonn interjected.

Will gave him a dirty look. "Girls…well, they're not women yet. Like Rose and Ronny. Either of them could kick your ass, but they're not who you'd want to cuddle with or…" He trailed off. When Tyzonn looked at him, he raised an eyebrow. "Get _close _to. If you get my drift."

"What drift?" Tyzonn asked.

Will just shook his head. "Ask Rose about figures of speech when we get back to the mansion."

Will turned back to the girls…women behind him, but snorted when he noticed they had lost interest and walked off. "You ruined my appreciation time, man."

"I'm sorry."

"Ah well, more where they came from. Let's get back, man, it's getting late."

They walked in silence toward the Hartford mansion.

At least until Tyzonn decided to ask his second question.

"You only…is it 'hit on'?" he asked. Will nodded. "You only hit on girls…women," he corrected himself.

"No girls for me, Ty. Just the beautiful ladies."

Tyzonn frowned. "Is there something wrong with the men of this world?"

Will gave him a strange look, one Tyzonn couldn't identify. He felt the need to further clarify.

"Why don't you 'hit on' the men?"

Will blinked. "Because I'm straight."

Tyzonn blinked back. He gave Will's body a sweeping glance. "I would only somewhat agree with that; you are mostly straight though like most humanoids there are bends in your body-"

"No, Ty, straight. Like, not gay."

Will was fairly sure that he was speaking English; by the look of Tyzonn's face he could have easily been speaking Swahili.

"What is 'gay'?"

"When a guy likes other guys. In b that /b way."

"I see. This is…not approved of, on your planet?"

The Black Ranger was scratching his head. How exactly did he get put in this position? "It's not…disapproved of, I suppose. It's not…the normal kind of relationship."

Tyzonn suddenly straightened. "So normal is what you are. Male liking female."

"Yes. I mean no. It's not normal. I mean, it is, but…okay. Chicks and dudes together is the usual. It's a lot more common than two guys, or even…two girls." Will felt a smile creep on to his face at the idea, but quickly banished it for fear that Tyzonn would notice it and make him go even further into this topic, which he still had no idea how they got into in the first place.

"Ah." They walked a few more steps in silence. "Will?"

"Yeah, Ty?"

"…would your tips work the same with guys as they do with women?"

"I'm…not entirely sure."

"Well. You're a guy. Would you fall for you?"

Will hesitated. This had to be one of those both-answers-get-you-in-trouble questions, like 'Do you think I'll look like my mother when I grow old?'. "I'm not sure," he said carefully.

Tyzonn seemed to accept that.

They were within sight of the Rangers' base of operations when Tyzonn next spoke.

"What would work on Mack?" he asked casually.

Will almost choked.

Tyzonn looked at him in concern "Are you alright, Will?"

"I really have no idea what would work on Mack," Will managed to get out, a few words ending up strangled by the sheer amount of disbelief that he had that they were actually discussing this subject.

Tyzonn frowned. The simple expression seemed to be what Tyzonn had deemed his 'confusion face'. "If I am upsetting you, then I am sorry."

"You're not upsetting me." Ty just gave him a disturbingly Earthling look – the bullshit-detector look. Will decided to rephrase. "I'm not upset, it's just…not something you generally ask other guys."

"Ah." Tyzonn nodded in understanding. "Then I shall ask the girls."

"Yeah…what?"

"We shall not speak of this subject anymore. It makes you uncomfortable and upset, so I shall ask Ronny or Rose."

When they finally reached the mansion, Tyzonn asked Spencer where Ronny was, and Will hid.

He didn't want to be easily accessible when Tyzonn was finished with the Yellow Ranger.


	2. Assimilation

Title: Assimilation

Second in the Amelioration series

Author: Dingo

Disclaimer: Power Rangers Operation Overdrive is not mine. If it was, there'd be things like this happening a lot more on the actual show.

Summary: Tyzonn plays a video game with Ronny and gets less confused. One-sided Tyzonn/Mack.

**amelioration**  
_noun _the act of relieving ills and changing for the better

**assimilation**

_noun_ the merging of cultural traits from previously distinct cultural groups

* * *

"Good afternoon, Ronny."

"Ty, hey." Ronny motioned to the gaming controller next to her. "You want to play?"

Tyzonn gingerly sat next to her and picked up the strange looking remote. Ronny waited patiently before taking the controller and flipping it around in his hands.

"Ah. So what are we playing?"

"It's a racing game. You just point the joystick the way you want to go, and run over the arrows to go faster. You'll pick it up in no time."

Ronny quickly set up the track and the cars – a figure-8 racing track, hers a yellow Ferrari and his a red BMW.

They sat in silence until the beginning of the race, when the computerized voice counted them down.

"You know Mack well, right?" Tyzonn asked as Ronny sped ahead.

"I like to think so." Ronny avoided one of the AI cars, not looking at Tyzonn. "Why? Is something wrong?"

Tyzonn side-swiped the wall. "No."

Ronny had finished her first lap by the time he spoke again.

"Will tried to explain something to me earlier, but he seemed uncomfortable."

The Ferrari skidded expertly around a corner. "What was it?"

"Gay and straight." Tyzonn narrowly avoided hitting a computer-driven Porsche. "He seemed very unsure of himself."

Ronny blinked, barely noticing as she missed a powerup. "Will's probably the most heterosexual guy I know."

"Heterosexual? What does that mean?"

"You're attracted to someone of the opposite sex. Homosexual is being attracted to someone of the same sex. Bisexual is being attracted to both." Getting back into her stride, Ronny flew over a speed bump.

"Oh. He just told me that he wasn't sure if his moves would work on guys as well as they do on girls."

Ronny blinked. "I don't think they would. At least, some of them wouldn't."

"That's what he said." Tyzonn smiled as he hit an arrow and raced ahead, overtaking a number of AI racecars. "I think I'm starting to get used to this game."

"Why would you want to know if Will's tricks would work on guys?" Ronny asked, her mind still stuck on his statement.

Tyzonn was silent for a moment, concentrating on the game as he swerved around three cars in succession. "I didn't. I wanted to know what would work on Mack."

Ronny's fingers went slack. Her Ferrari slowed without a driver, and she lost first place. "Oh," she managed.

Tyzonn kept going, seeing the tiny bubble above a yellow car ahead that proclaimed it was 'P1'.

Ronny visibly shook her head, pressing forward even as her Ferrari stalled. "Why?"

"Because I like Mack. He's pretty, and he dresses nice, and smells really good."

The Yellow Ranger frowned, suddenly placing that sentence – only with a different pronoun. "You've spent far too much time with Will."

Tyzonn sped over the finish line, words on the screen proclaiming it was his last lap. Ronny was still ahead of him, the 'P1' bubble popping in and out of existence.

"So…you're gay?" Ronny asked.

Tyzonn bounced over a speed bump. "I don't think so. Mercurians don't put names on things like that. Love is love. I can understand how you and Rose are pretty, just as I know Will is attractive, but I feel differently towards Mack."

"Oh."

Ronny slammed into the car in front, spinning it out of control and out of the race. The number on the corner of the screen changed to 1.

"Do you know of anything that would work on Mack?"

Again, one of Tyzonn's statements made her miss a powerup. "Um. I'm not sure."

"Oh. Okay."

The finish line was in sight for both of them before Ronny gingerly offered a suggestion. "You might need to be direct. Go up to Mack and tell him. Or ask him out."

Tyzonn glanced away from the screen to smile at Ronny. "Thank you."

Ronny started her victory lap among simulated cheers and celebration. A few seconds later, Tyzonn's BMW crossed the finish line.


	3. Actualisation

Title: Actualisation

Third in the Amelioration series

Author: Dingo

Disclaimer: Power Rangers Operation Overdrive is not mine. If it was, there'd be things like this happening a lot more on the actual show.

Summary: Tyzonn manages to make enough sense of Will and Ronny's (lack of) advice to realize that he needs to talk to Mack himself. Tyzonn/Mack.

**amelioration**  
_noun _the act of relieving ills and changing for the better

**actualisation**

_noun_ making real or giving the appearance of reality

* * *

Dinner that evening had been an almost-awkward affair, with Will choking on his peas every time Tyzonn spoke to Mack (the only notable example of which was Tyzonn asking how the salt grinder worked; instead of taking it from Ty, Mack placed his hands atop Tyzonn's and demonstrated. Will coughed and attempted to distract himself with the cherry tomatoes in his salad.). Ronny had been more normal, though she had hastily excused herself when Spencer had enquired about the video game (Tyzonn had innocently supplied that Ronny had explained certain differences between Earth and Mercurian culture).

The next morning had left Mack and Tyzonn at home, the other Rangers out to follow a slim lead on a ruby that could be another Corona Aurora jewel.

Tyzonn was a little more confused than he had been previous to his chats with Ronny and Will the previous day. Despite the amount of respect he had for Will, Tyzonn had to conclude that Will had been next to no help. Ronny had been a lot more concise, and less confused about the situation than Will had been…at least visibly.

The Earth culture was still extremely strange to him, but he thought he was starting to get the hang of it.

The Mercurian way – asking friends of Mack's for instruction – had worked as far as it was going to. Dax…well, Dax was Dax. And knowing Rose as well as he did, he had a feeling he'd get a lecture on the history of Earth homosexuality. And neither Will nor Ronny had been especially negative on his feelings for Mack, which would have been enough for him to dismiss his attraction. And while neither had given him the usual interrogation or encouragement typical of any Mercurian, it seemed to just underline the fact that it should be Mack he was talking to.

Mack was in his hammock. Tyzonn couldn't tell if he was actually reading his adventure book or not. He'd been watching Mack for the last three minutes and he hadn't turned a page once.

"I know you're there, Ty," Mack said without turning his head.

Tyzonn sheepishly moved his chair from just out of Mack's view to next to him. "Hi."

"Hi." Mack dropped the book to his chest cover-up before lacing his fingers behind his head. "What's happening?"

Tyzonn smiled. "Not very much."

"I'm enjoying the day off."

"It is nice to spend a day on leisure activities and not traipsing around your planet. Though that isn't especially un-pleasant. What would be the best approach to take if someone wanted to date you?" Tyzonn asked.

His tone had stayed even the entire way through, so Mack took a moment to react to his question.

"If someone wanted to…"

"Date you. Is that the right phrase to say?"

"I don't know, is it?"

"I think so."

Mack blinked. "If someone wanted to date me…?"

"Yes. How should they go about it?"

"Um…I'm not sure."

Tyzonn blinked. "Will and Ronny had the same response. Is this a problem on your planet where you don't know your own dating customs?"

"You asked Will and Ronny about me?" Mack asked, attempting to sit up. Unfortunately he forgot both that there was a book on his chest, and that he was in a hammock – neither of which necessarily assisted in rising from a lying position.

Tyzonn watched as Mack valiantly struggled to keep his balance. The book lost its position and fell to the grass, where it lay forlornly until Tyzonn picked it up.

"Yes, I did." Tyzonn waited until Mack had managed to sit up before he continued. "I am sorry if that was not proper. I'm…still not sure of what I should do in this situation. So I decided to ask you."

Mack shook his head. "Uh huh." Bringing a hand up to massage his temples, Mack questioned, "So is this for someone else…like Rose? Or…"

"No. This is for me."

Mack nodded weakly. "Oh. I thought it might."

Tyzonn pressed on; while not accustomed to Earth gestures and speech patterns yet, he knew enough to realize that Mack was not exactly ecstatic about this new development in their friendship.

"I feel very strongly towards you, Mack, unlike what I feel towards Rose or Will or any of the other Rangers. Will has told me that this isn't what is common on Earth, so I don't expect anything from you besides your friendship." Tyzonn couldn't read Mack's expression – it wasn't anything he'd seen on Mack before.

"I just wanted to tell you that." Another pause didn't seem to bring Mack any closer to speaking. Tyzonn let a few more heartbeats pass before deciding on his next move.

"So. I…ah. I'm going to go back to the mansion and my room now." He stood and picked up his chair. Placing it back under the table, Tyzonn started the walk back to the mansion.

A few footsteps came up from behind him, and a hand on his shoulder brought him around. Tyzonn opened his mouth to question.

Mack kissed him.

For about three seconds Mack's lips were against his with one of his hands still on Tyzonn's shoulder and the other clenched too tightly in his hair and standing on the toes of Tyzonn's right shoe. Three glorious seconds.

Then Mack stumbled back with a strange smile on his face. Tyzonn…was surprised, to say the least.

Mack laughed sheepishly, and scratched his cheek with a fingertip. "I…ah. I'm going to go back to the mansion and my room now."

Tyzonn watched as Mack continued past him, more than slightly in shock.


End file.
